Electrical apparatus



March 5, 1946. '1: c. RIEBE ELECTRICAL APPARATUS Filed Oct. 18 1943 ums 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVEN TOR.

THEODORE (1 RIEBE ATTORNEYS.

March 5, 1946. T. c. RIEBE 2,395,939

ELECTRICAL APPARATUS Filed Oct. 1a, 1943 2 Sheet-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. THEODORE C. RIEBE Patented Mar. 5, 1946 faassssaifif n n ELECTRICAL AliPlilg msxi ero Theodore C. Riebe; Chicagd m assignorxtoi Automatic Electric Laboratories, Inc, Chi i I l; I:

111., a corporation of, Delaware 1 Application oetober is, 1943, Serial Ne.;='s06,e85 3-] 8 Claims. (c1..2'50+s3)- The present invention relates to electrical apparatus provided with separable electric connections and, more particularly, to such connections for interconnecting a supporting structure or apparatus with a readily removable or demountable structure or apparatus. 7

It frequently occurs that units of electricalapparatus must .be demounted or removed to facilitate portability or the repair of the apparatus.

Where it is desired to provide for easy andrapid' disassembly of apparatus it is particularly desirable to provide separable electrical connections which do-not require the performanceof any additional operations and which, however, will be positive in operation, which will provide a selfcleaning wiping contact, and which will provide a relatively high degree of contact pressure. One such instance which required separable contacts having the above characteristics occurred in a portable direction finder having a pairof. spaced loop antennas. In accordance with thepresent invention each loop antenna and its supporting;

arm was readily removable and the electricalconnections between the arm' and the supporting structurewere made by sets of contacts; Oneof these sets of contacts was resilient and th cooperating contact was rigid. The contactswere so positioned relative to each other and toasepar able hinge connection that oneset of contacts was provided with a suliicient moment arm as to cause? displacement of the resilient contacts and to ,produce between the sets of contacts a predetermined degreeof contact pressure. p

It therefore is an object or the present mi n. tion to provide, in electrical apparatus, an'im proved separable contact structure.

It is another object of the present invention provide for a demountably supportedunit otelec trical equipment an electrical contact means so related .to the separable supporting means, forthe apparatus as to produce positive contact connection with a predetermined pressure f-when the unit is in assembled position.

cooperates'with the contact structure of the' de--- mountable or removable electrical apparatus unit. 7 Referringgnore particularly to Figs. land 2, Y

thereis shown a portion of aradio receiving cabmet 1 l above: which there is provided. a hand- Whee 2 at a hed t a p rtin structure by means offwhichj a" plurality of spaced loop anten has maybe rotated. The antenna structure cooperating 'with' the; receiver ll consists ofa jpair of spaced parallerloi p ahtennasone oiwhich I 3' is seen to, the left in F ig.11,';andthe other of which l 4;is iseen to the right in Fig. 2;" Intermediate the t q oll er.spaq drara l ll a t a su '3. .fnd 1'4; 'thcr J rrcvi e a s n nn 1 The han wli i t i a an ea to ro a a pp rt n q u niorsh it: h hi provided with a supporting assembly 1 l 1 arranged todemountably support two'loop antenna supp ffiirig arms l8 and l a c ia df nec iv v e n lfiand l s a I Each; of the 'l'cop'; antennas is supported adjacent Lthe outer elttremitywof leach supporting. arm by anapparatuslwhich includesa positioning, pin 21 secured to af plate "22 which 'is fastened by means otscrews'f23 tojthe upper surface of one of the-arms. such asthe arm I9.; The centering pin 2 l arranged to project through aslot inv'an with the outer loop an ad'jtistalole plateltsecured tothe bent arm sup-v port 3 'l1he'slotted plate is pivoted by a fastening crew, 26 and'js secured inproper angular m itidi yia e sc 1 r tins o u The invention is set forthwith particularity,

the appended claims. Other and" further objects of the invention will subsequentl become appar cm by reference to the following description taken;

in con ection w th t a compan n raw n s wherein Figure 1 shows the apparatus to which the present invention has been appllediFig. .2 is] a side view, partially in section} of the apparatus shown-inFig. 1;'Fig. 3 is a top view-oi the sun porting structure'and one set oi the separable electrical contacts; and Flgsll 5*; 'show -the manner inwhich the contact structure -oIfFig. 3- 55 99 w th f 'arcu te slot 12 h zo p rtion'of thg arm 25,- "The' arm 25' at its upper exremit recon e t t supporting co mn: 29

"pan ma ,immediate va iace t e l r i the op -antenna -l lu Beneath the supporting structure .2? there provided a knurled operating ember '3 ,w ch. en ead qmnp shown;which terms an extension oi a connector; housingfitjmounted on the outer extremity of arm:- 9.....W ithe thre ded-na the h s n St fth re isprovided oneportion of a male; and

items. connector-plug, theother portion/being,

. contamed wi hiniheisuri ortm u 11f9a sociated with the loop "antennaif {Ifhe adjustment provided byqthenslotted plate;24 and thearcuate aperture 28- of thearm 25*permit'sfthe loop antenna t 4 to be'ori'ented o that-itis eneetively' ar.

p allel ftol'the other cooperating spaced loop": an,

e 'antenn Q Hi is-s upported from acoluinn orcylindricalfmentber fl which'extends on; down-j w'ardl-y to suitable connections within the malns'upporting column :I c; {The 'co1u'mn 33 "is; providedwith 'a collar '34 arrangedto cover an aperhinge structure. llflie separable hinge :stnucture includes two double hook members '3-8"-and"-39 se cured to the upper plate of the assembly I! by is now in position and the contact 54 has wipingly engaged its cooperating contact 49 and has caused a displacement thereof. The contact 54 is located some distance from the pivotal axis of the pins 55 and 55 so as to have a certain moment arm. This moment arm insures a predetermined pressure between the contact 54 and the contact 49.

it will be appreciated that the resilient contacts are '-arranged to be wipingly engaged by the cooperating contacts mounted on the arms suitable fastening means, such as screws 4|. Each -5f8? a 19 a d the Weight o t ppa t s upof the members 38 and 39 is provided-with-two portions, as may be seen from Fig. 3, wherein T ported by .these arms causes the contacts to be closed 'w'ith'a predetermined pressure. It furthe member 38 has hook portions and 43.15 th m w 'gappr ated that such an ar- The supporting hook ortions as and score {man m t m s a p a l hmge c nnection intercomiecting the support with the despaced apart on a circular member H so as to provide a space for the insertion of thearms I 8 and l9 and also to provide room for the cooperating sets of contact members required to com plete the electrical connections between the ap paratussupported by-the arms and the apparatus associated with thesupporting column l5; The plate 11 has acentral aperture 44 to receive the lower extremity of thelrodwhich joins the supporting "shaft .133 for the intermediate "loop antenna 15. "The plate I! also has two other apertures' #5 andf lli'to register with portions of .an insulating plate '41 on which'there are mounted numerous resilient contactslsuch as 48 49, Bland 5 2. 1 Each of these contacts is similar in con s'tructio'n to the arrangement shownin the crosssectional portions of the insulating plate 41in Figs". 4 and 5; .Thus the .resilie'ntcon'tact spring 49 is'supported on an elongated fiat metal mem-- ber 50; and both the member 50 and the resilient contact spring member 49,are'secured in .position by a rivet '531' "The Iinterl nediate portion of the spring contact 451s arched above .t'h e'contact plate '50, and the end of the resilient contact 49 bears against the contact ,plate 50 so that when the contact '49 .is ."clisp'laoed the .outer extremity mlountable or readily separable electrical units facilitates "its rapid assembly and disassembly.

-Ellh'earrangement shown comprising a separable hinge connection interconnecting electrical apparatus "with a'support has been'rapplied "to the antenna system'rof a radio direction finder. It will fbe understood, however, that a similar "arrangement of a separable hinge connection "and cooperating contacts may beprovided for. other electrical apparatus which is to be mounted :ona support Wh'ereit is desired "to provide (for the rapid assembly or'disa'ssembly of the equipment. Furthermore, such an arrangement will be of particular advantagewhere a unit of electrical equipment'must "frequently be removedgfor inspectionfor 'for "repair andreplacement.

While for the 'purposesof illustrating the presentinvention the invention has been shown as applied to-a spaced loop antenna system of a radio direction finder, "i'tti's to be understood that Ido not wish to flee limited thereto since the principles employed and the apparatus embodym ing'theseprinciple's are suscep'tibleiof similar ap pl'i'cations in other electrical apparatus as may will be moved longitudinally along the plate 55.

Each of theconta'cts 48, 49, 5land 52 isfarranged jt'o,- cooperate with one of a vplurality of The contact 5-4 is, of course, suitably insulated" from thef'arm' fl 9 by being supported in a "block or insulating material retained in position by suitable fastening means, .such as thescrew $81. The upper .end o'f thecontactmem'ber 54 is pro vided with an annularly recessed portion 58 about which the end of a conductor might .be secured; which conductor extends to the other extremity of the arm to the electrical contact interconnect ing that end'of the arm with the apparatus such as the loop antenna 14.;v Adjacent the inner extremity of the arm 19 there is'provideda pair or pins, oneof which is shown in cros section in Figs.4 and 5, and the other of which 55 is shown in Big. 2. Similarly, the arm' '18 .is providedwith two pins, only one of which 51 isv'isible inFig. 2. -The pins '55 and 55; of the arm l9 engage the right-hand portions of the upright members 38 and 39.

7 .It be oted from Fig; 4 that in order to insertthese into the hook portions, such as the hook portionfl. the .arm 1 91must be raised order to clear the forward portion 4il of the hook member 43; After the pin 55 is in engagement with the upper arcuate portion-of the hook member-A3, the armygmay be lowered so that the :lowcr side thereof will engage the upper surface of claims.

'Wha'tisclaimed is: l

Lin a portable directional antenna "system 4 the combination of a pairpf spaced loop antennas each-mounted adiacen-t the outer extremity of-a supporting arm, a central supporting structure for saiid'armsincluding a 'plurali'iyof '"hook unemb'ers spaced apart ftoperniitpthe insertion there-' between of a portion or said loop antenna sup-- porting arms, a hook engaging pin arranged on each side of "said antenna "arm for engagement with said hook portion, a jpluralityoi resilient be commensurate with'the "scope offth'e appended 55 electrical fcontacts carried by said central supporting section, a plurality 'o'r-electrical' contacts located adjacent the finnerend gof each of said loop antenna supporting arms ;on the bottom side thereof, said contacts being so arranged that 60 when 'sald aims areibeing placed'fin engagement with'saidhook portions-oi said central supporting member the contactspf saidja'rm 'slidin'gly' engage and displace "*the coo'perating resilient contacts'vwherebyfa high degree of repress'ure will exist betweensaid contacits. f I

2.11m a portable idirect'ional antennaisystem, the combination of a plurality of spaced antenhas, .a vlikeminhher of support members; each of snu'memberssupporun adjacent oneend'vth e.

7 0 of one of "said antennas, contact vmeans secured lil th rasad at se at sai sunt n :m mrs a rma a e rm t; on act m n s u dto said rotatable support adapted to ;cooperate respectively with the said contactmieans of saidv the plate H as is :shorm :in-iiig. .1 :Ehusthe man .antennmsuppm-tin: memben-wpainohhookmembers at the ends thereof securing said contact a means whereby said last-named means may be placed under said hook members when said antenna supporting member is held at an angle with respect to said rotatable support and whereby cooperation between said hook means and said last-named means controls both said contact means of said antenna supporting member and of said rotatable support to cooperate with a wiping action to complete an electrical connection therebetween as said antenna supporting means is moved to a horizontal position with respect to said rotatable support.

3. In a directional antenna system for a portable radio receiver, the combination of a central supporting structure including a, plurality of hook members and a plurality of contact members, a plurality of antenna supporting arm members detach'ably secured to said central supporting structure, each of said arm members including a plurality of pin members, and a plurality of contact members adjacent one end thereof, and a loop antenna secured to the other end of said arm members, said pins and said contact members of each of said arm members cooperating respectively with said central supporting structure hook and contact members to form diametrically opposite spaced antenna supporting arms electrically connected to said radio receiver through said contact members, said hook members cooperating respectively with said pin members to provide a hinge whereby said arm members may be readily detached as separate units from said central supporting structure to facilitate portability.

4. In an antenna system for a radio direction finder, the combination of a central supporting structure, a pair of diametrically opposite arm members supported by said structure, a loop antenna secured to one end of each of said arms, thereby providing a pair of loop antennas horizontally spaced apart a distance equal substantially to twice the length of one of said arm members, and means secured to the other end of each of said arm members and to said central supporting structure forming a, detachable hinge member whereby said arm members may be readily removed from said central supporting structure by merely rotating the diametrically opposite ends of said arms upwardly from said horizontal position.

5. In an antenna system for a radio direction finder, the combination of a central supporting structure, a pair of diametrically opposite arm members supported by said structure, a loop anof said arms upwardly from said horizontal position, and means also secured to the said other end of said arm members and to said central sup porting structure forming detachable electrical from said antennas to said radio direction finder may be automatically disconnected responsive to tenna secured to one end of each of said arms,

thereby providing a pair of loop antennas horizcntally spaced apart a distance equal substantially to twice the length of one of said arm members, means secured to the other end of each of said arm members and to said central supporting structure forming a detachable hinge member whereby said arm members may be readily re-' moved from said central supporting structure by merely rotating the diametrically opposite ends the removal of said arms from" said central supportingstructure.

6. In a radio direction finding system, the combination of a rotatable support, a readily demountable radio antenna supporting arm cooperating therewith, a separable hinge connection interconnecting said arm and said support, electrical contact means located adjacent said hinge connection and associated with said rotatable support and said supporting arm, said means including a resilient contact arranged to be wipinglyengagedby a cooperating contact and to be displaced thereby when said arm is in cooperative relationship with said rotatable support thereby to complete an electrical circuit between said radio antenna and said direction finding system.

7. The combination, comprising a central supporting structure, atdemountable arm member including a loop antenna secured to one end thereof supported by said structure, a separable hinge interconnecting said structure and said arm including a pair of hooks and a pair of pins cooperating with said hooks to form a fulcrum about which said arm member may be pivoted, and sets of contacts carried bysaid structure and by said arm member for cooperation therebetween, one of said sets of contacts being resiliently mounted so as to be displaced by the cooperating set of contacts when said demountable arm member is supported upon said supporting structure whereby the length of said arm from said fulcrum to said antenna maintains a reliable electrical contact pressure between said sets of contacts.

8. The combination comprising a central supporting structure, a demountable arm member including an antenna secured to one end thereof supported by said structure, a separable hinge interconnecting said structure and said arm including a pair of hooks and a pair of pins cooperating with said hooks to form a fulcrum about which said arm member may be pivoted, said hooks being mounted on said structure and said pins being mounted on said arm member, and sets of contacts carried by saidstructure and by said arm member for cooperation therebetween, one of said sets of contacts being resiliently mounted so as to be displaced by the cooperating set of contacts when said demountable arm member is supported upon said supporting structure whereby the length of said arm from said fulcrum to said antenna maintains a reliable electrical circuit between said antenna and said supporting structure, said cooperating sets of electrical contacts being disconnected to open said circuit between said supporting structure and said antenna responsive to rotation of said antenna arm about said fulcrum to remove said arm member from said central supporting structure.

THEODORE C. RIEBE. 

